


Star Wolf: Declassified

by EternallyEcho



Category: Star Fox Series
Genre: Character Development, Character Study, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Diary/Journal, Gen, Letters, One Shot Collection, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:09:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25803409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternallyEcho/pseuds/EternallyEcho
Summary: Short letters that reveal details about the enigmatic Star Wolf team. One-shots for Panther, Leon, and Wolf, to tell us more!
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. Panther

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Do you ever wonder more about the Star Wolf team? I did, so I wanted to make some one-shots on each team member in a letter format. Since I wrote this a few years ago, it's from when I was new to writing about the Star Fox series. Because of that, I figured starting with the newest member to Star Wolf would be a good start. Enjoy!
> 
> (Please note: this was originally written years prior to Star Fox Zero's release, so if there's some continuity goofs with it, that would be why. This mostly follows the Star Fox Assault line-up and is mostly ported over as it was originally written.)

Hello, friend.

Have I a special something to share with you. Secrets are always worthwhile to listen to, yes? With the lack of intel on the great Star Wolf team, I would imagine it's quite a treat indeed. True, starting with the newest recruit is hardly delightful, but I assure you, this will have you pouncing back for more.

Not that this will ever be known to anyone, but in order to explain the legends that so few whisper about, we must begin somewhere. (Perhaps because the last few that know are near death's door.)

Have you heard the name Panther Caroso? I'm certain you have, if you've come this far. Does anything concern you about one like me? (Aside from the possibility that I'll charm your beloved into my arms.) Wonder how I've remained so mysterious and elusive from Cornerian authorities for so long? Here's a little treat for you:

Panther Caroso does not exist.

_"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Panther."_

I'm sure you're wondering: "What?! How can this be? We've seen him with our own eyes! Of course he exists!" (He, being, naturally, me.)

Does it not seem odd, then, that decades have gone by? Certainly, it could be as simple as two decades, and I could have started when I was young.

But that makes it easy, and no so much a legend.

The truth is that my name and likeness applies to any melanistic felidae that so chooses to take up the identity. To put it simply, any dark furred cat with a shady past can become the one known as "Panther Caroso." Sometimes, a cat will shed his former identity, cutting all ties with former relations, in order to assume this mantle. Others, such as myself, are groomed for the role from what one may consider an unfortunate childhood. (I could go on about the sad story of being born poor and how I had to pick the streets for scraps, but that's a tale for another day.)

To downsize that story, the cat before me had built quite the career as "Panther," continuing a long line of criminal activity. He found me when he found himself growing old one day and decided that the legacy should live on. He trained me in theft, piloting, various forms of dancing or combat, and, of course, romancing. On his dying day, secret from the rest of the world, we shed no tears. He merely passed me his symbolic red rose and whispered, _"All who see my rose meet death."_

Thus were the death of the previous, and the birth of the latest, "Panther Caroso."

Now you too know the legend of Panther. We steal to survive, and we fly to be free. We dance like there's no tomorrow, and fight to get ourselves there. We love because, hey, why not? A Panther refers to himself as Panther to remember his origins and reference the long chain of heroes and villains that he has come from. (After all, some Panthers were good guys. The problem was that they were not well recognized.)

For the past years that have graced Corneria, they've come to know his calling card, his songs. The last cat built quite the legacy as a master thief, and before him was a champion mercenary. I've dabbled in both, but my greatest skills seem to take to the skies and the stars.

Wolf did not…actually, still does not, know this much when we first met. He needed a capable pilot that could fill in newly…vacated seats on his team. He had heard stories about the Panther, knew a bit of my recent history, as well as Caroso's past.

Why did I agree to it? Some say that it pays well, in spite of a less than lovely success ratio. Others believe that I've found a home among fellow misfits, as we were those sorts. Still, many would say that I'm smitten with a certain vixen.

But the truth, my dear friend, the truth is that I am looking to establish my own life, my face among the line of cats by the name, "Panther Caroso." I go where my talents are most suited. If I can bring others beyond their infamy, all the better.

And so, Panther Caroso lives on. If you are reading this, then you have come to earn my trust above all others…or, I am perhaps feeling nostalgic, sentimental, and feel like sharing something with you before you die.

Ah, my time grows short and I must depart. I bid you farewell, and perhaps, some day, we can talk again.

Though I cannot guarantee that you will meet the same Panther that you have left.

My sincerest regards,  
Panther Caroso

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's Panther! I was scavenging the web about Star Wolf team information and, for some reason, Panther interests me the most, since there's so little known about him. Apparently on the Assault website, he was a known criminal before joining Star Wolf. I got hung up on his evasion of the Cornerian forces for "decades" part, since I consider the members of Star Wolf to be very close in age, if not the exact age, of the Star Fox pilots.
> 
> As of Assault, I think they're all in their mid-or-late 20's, with Krystal being the youngest in early 20's. If that were the case, then Panther would have needed to start young, and while kids can be expert criminals in their own rights, I feel like there should have been more depth to Caroso's background. So I decided the terribly, not-at-all complicated route of him being a descendant of a bunch of cats that wear the same name. Because that's much easier to understand! (...That's sarcasm.)
> 
> In all seriousness, I thought something like that would add a cool layer to the elusive and mysterious character that we were introduced to so suddenly in the series. Not many people like Panther, but compared to Oikonny and Pigma, I think he's more fun to have on the cast. He doesn't share the history or connections that the others have, but if given the chance, I think Panther would more than make up for it. (It also doesn't help that I view Star Wolf as "rivals" to Star Fox, not "villains" per-say, though they keep rewriting the series continuity to make them definitively evil.)
> 
> All right, that's all for now. Still to come are Leon and Wolf! If there's a lot of demand for it, I could do Oikonny and Pigma after, but I'm focusing on the Assault line-up first. (Besides, I want to try Leon next regardless.) Let me know what you think; comments and criticisms welcome! Thank you for reading!


	2. Leon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, this chapter gets a bit darker from the last. Not to hype it up, but I think that's a fair warning. (It helped me decide on the rating being bumped up for safety, but I don't think it's too bad.)
> 
> Oh, and there are intentional errors within this chapter, such as unfinished sentences. Additional warning? It works. Enjoy!

Entry Log: Somber (Third to last)

Numbers get tiring after you enter the vast number of things you want to pour out of your mind. Why I've taken to using the letters of my last name and describing my current mood with them is beyond me. Explaining it doesn't even help it make sense. This doesn't even make sense.

Somber isn't even a good choice to be writing with.

But it's not going away this time. It should by now. He should be leaving us alone. I don't want him here, not here. It's safe; I'm safe, without him anywhere near

Stop. No need to keep going on with that drivel. There's nothing. He's nothing. We have never been. Our past was a ruse, a way for him to scour what little he could find and use it to propel forward. He never needed me.

Never.

Wait, that's the lie. He did need me. That's why he bothered with me, when we were young. That's why he reached out to me, for me, when he was alone, when no one

He had no one. You could have. Why did you choose him? WHYWHYWHY?

Back then is when I thought I needed him too. No

Yes. Yes, I did think that. We were both street peasants. Damned by the world, all of Lylat, to live in terrible upbringings, to survive. Stealing wasn't a choice for us. We wouldn't be above all of those petty laws that the justice system put in place, the same ones that the armies enforced. It's how we lived.

That's not what I wanted though. I wanted him. I wanted love. Not in that idiotic romantic sense that people rave about and would act like a nimrod over. Not the way Panther keeps touting it like the greatest thing is to just find someone to

Easy. Panther's not the cause of this. Caroso even knows how to help me open up sometimes, as if he knows what it's like to hide. Smug fool. He's too nice some days.

It's _him_ , though. It's always been _him_.

That blasted fiend who ruined me, who sentenced me to hell. Falco—I HATE HIM. I HATEHATE HIM SOSOSOSOSO MUCH HATE WITH EVERY FIBER

When we were young, go back, when we used to be friends. There used to be that bond between us, something akin to brotherhood. We were what they call, "Partners in Crime," or whatever nonsensical idiom it was. Fal the bird and I stole what we could to survive. Food, riches, those were easy when we were young.

We got serious, as we grew older, learning to steal more helpful, valuable things. He grew taller, protective of his meek partner. I'm older, even if only by a little, but it felt so nice to have someone to watch out for me. I let him because of that. He had to have cared then, at least for a while, somewhere he had to care

HE NEVER CARED NEVER WANTED ME NEVER WANTED TO KEEP ME AS HIS FAMILY NEVER WAS THERE NEVER ANYTHING

Something the two of us learned to steal a few times were ships, crafts. There's a sense of freedom when you fly and when you break from the earth. We wanted that, so we took it whenever we needed. It was good then. Life was good.

Well, not always. We got in too deep once. Some ape ruffian threatened us both. It was a day we wandered into a warehouse, thinking we could steal off of higher-level thugs. He caught me when I let my guard down, stopped blending in with the walls. He caught me in a tight grip and I tried to kick my way out. No good.

_"Ha-ha! I think I'll torment you before I cook you!"_ He laughed while I struggled. After that, he brought out a small knife.

That about tore it for my partner, who finally came rushing over and slammed into the creep. They fought, but it came down to speed, not strength. I took a moment to run against the wall and blend in, hide again. Blue beak pressed the hoodlum into an adjacent wall, leaned close to him, whispered, no, hissed, loud enough for me to hear him:

_"I think I'll torture you for a while!"_

The thug knocked him off and they wrestled a bit. Now it was strength. Now, the bird was in trouble.

Before that, we practiced. He was handy with a few different blasters and other types of firearms. He was tough in a fight, but went down easy enough if you could nail him. I became skilled with blending into my surroundings, and playing up close with prey, getting intimate with them, lulling them into false sense of security. I never needed a blaster. All I needed was something sharp.

It wasn't far from me. Picked it up quickly and assessed their fight. Dim ape never heard, nor saw, me coming. It was my first.

There was something that switched in my partner's head. It was something that made him stop after that. Stop what we were. He went and found that floozy Katt, took off with them for over a year, left me to figure out my own path. I waited for him for a while, but eventually I fell into routines without him.

He betrayed me not long after that happened. BETRAYED IS EVEN TOO NICE FOR HIM MUCH TOO NICE

It was a Cornerian military base. That's where I went to get our next ship. He knew I would be there. He knew how to find me, with a nice pair of infrared goggles on himself. And he brought the whole blasted army along with him, gave them a whole show. I remembered to bring barriers with me, lots for military scum, but I didn't think I would need them for this. They were all concentrated on me. Every. Last. Weapon.

And he pleaded there, begged me quietly to stop here. He wanted to play hero, save face at the last minute. He wanted to be worshiped by everyone, be the big savior and get the cushiest adoration, universally accepted by all, even me. I gave the only retort I could think of, snapping, laughing: _"Annoying bird! I am the great Leon!"_

And then they fired. It was useless; they fired where they thought I was, where birdie tried to point them. No good, none of it. "Can't catch what you can't see," was that the other phrase? Either way, I was faster. Slipped away with ease. Burning hatred in my heart. Burning, yes. I burned what little he owned when I got back to our little hideaway. Burned it all. Burn, burn, BURN

Watching him feel hurt is something I'd revel in. I want him to feel some kind of pang in his heart. So I use those words against him, every so often I can. What our would-be-murderer told us. What he told him before I killed him. What I told him the minute I knew he chose to betray me. And I don't know if it hurts him, but I hope with all of my heart, my soul, every fiber of my being, that it does.

After that, I decided. I practiced every moment I wanted to spend on him on contracts, on people I was issued to, commissioned by anyone, sometimes my own. Months went by, before Wolf found me one day and decided that he could use the talent for long term. Wanted to kill. His target was a team called Star Fox. I wouldn't have cared until he listed the newest member: a brash, loudmouthed, blue bird. Sold.

We didn't click right away, but there was something he liked about me, something that convinced him to clean me up for a year, help me improve my dialect. He protected me too, kept me safe from trouble. I would have thought he'd clean house completely after the Andross assignment, but he kept me. We're not that close, but enough to understand one another, to work together. Be loyal.

And it's with him that I want to stay. I want to feel some closeness again. Rigid, cold, that's what I've become. He might help me, maybe Panther will. They're about as close to friends or family as I'll ever have.

Right now, they're all I need.

End Entry  
Sign Off: Leon Powalski

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's Leon! Key traits that are known about Leon include: refined dialect (64/Lylat Wars), which degrades to borderline insanity speech (Assault, Super Smash Bros.: Brawl), and yet there was still hope for kindness somewhere in him (Command). That alone makes for a mess of conflicting viewpoints; combine it with the fact that this was the cold, calculating assassin writing about himself and needing to open up. Now that's what I call razor-sharp contrast! (...It was an unfunny pun, sorry.)
> 
> So, how was that? I didn't think it was all that dark after I wrote it, but I still wanted to be careful. Still, I'm stubborn, so I tried to keep the same ideas of the story, just less descriptive in certain parts. (For example, the part about the ruffian, if you couldn't guess, was...more violent when I originally wrote it.) Also, I don't claim to know anything about mental illnesses, so if that's also offensive, my apologies, and I will rewrite this. I like it being open to more audiences, but only if it's acceptable.
> 
> Ah, but moving on, I need to go back and explain the abundance of errors, which played into Leon's insanity. The idea was that he tried, a lot more often that anyone realized, to not think about his past, to keep himself in check, to use the vernaculars that Wolf taught him, but that there was just something, or someone (Falco), that just led Leon to lashing out. So, if you were confused by the sudden caps lock or sentence cut-offs, or the whole "arguing with self" moments, that's what it was for. If that's not clear, then I'll definitely rewrite this.
> 
> So, in a number of ways, Leon and Panther turned out to be opposites. Whereas Panther is light-hearted enough to write to anyone, Leon chose to write to himself. The cat was comfortable talking about his past, but not necessarily opening up completely, whereas Leon despised the notion, but felt compelled to do so anyway. Also, I wanted to save it for Wolf, but I felt like Leon needed to tie the team together too, which is why he mentions both teammates.
> 
> For those that are wondering about the Falco/Leon thing, they're rivals, so I wanted to give them reason. To not use the lengthy explanation I wrote up, I'll keep it short and say that "the bird" doesn't have an innocent past (implied in canon), which I felt Leon should have had a part in. It turned out to be really tragic, which I felt was perfect, and represents a true fallout. (Plus, I had to go somewhere with all of the "razor-sharp" descriptions they gave Leon, along with the "lock-on only, no lasers" gimmick that his ship in Command had.)
> 
> I'd go on, but that takes away too much, so if you'd like to know more, send me a comment or message. Anything welcome! On deck is the team leader, Wolf. He's had more discussed about him than his teammates, but there's certainly some background to work with here. Thank you for reading!


	3. Wolf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, we've gotten a look at Panther and Leon, so let's try to get to know Wolf. Sure, there's more familiar territory with him, but maybe there's a little here that we didn't know about before. Enjoy!

Hello Mother,

Dunno if I'm actually going to send this, so if this manages to reach you, that should mean something. Not like you care that much. I know for damned sure that pop doesn't; in fact, I'm more than certain that he disowned me a while ago. I don't even know why you keep trying to get in contact with me. Half of the messages you send are full of hate. So, what gives?

Life as part of the upper class of Corneria City was never for me. You should know that. After all of those stupid parties you dragged me to when I was a pup, and how I never smiled or joined in on any of those conversations or whatever you want to call a transaction…how could you not get it?

Pop makes sense. (And no, I'm not going to call him by a more respectful name, so get that out of your head now.) He didn't want me; sure, he wanted a son, but someone who was his exact duplicate. Not me. He chastised the way I walked, talked, wrote, built, worked, flew, managed, and I can't even think of everything else. If I ever call that thing my father, I'll ask someone to shoot me before the words magically slip out.

You at least tried; I can certainly give you that much credit, to the point that I'm even attempting talking to you again. But you never stood up to "darling" dad for me. Every single time he berated me, you stood by. Whenever he punished me for disrupting, you sided with him. Fine, but when it was a punishment because I ate with the wrong fork at a dinner party? Couldn't you have said something about him overreacting? I was too young to understand, and you should have known that! You had to have known.

And how did you answer me again? Was it that you wanted me to learn something out of all that? Honestly, do you want to know what I retained from him?

_"Can't let you do that, Wolf!"_

_"Don't get cocky, Wolf."_

_"Playtime is over, Wolf."_

Trash like that is what he gave me. I share those lines with anyone that I can spit venom at. Some day, I'll let the whole Lylat System know how awful of a creature he was, and I'm going to keep practicing those words until I can use them perfectly to share with everyone.

It was in no way possible for either of you to have been shocked when I suddenly picked a day to storm out and leave. The choice: a lap of luxury with no real freedom versus a life on the streets and among the stars with zero limitations? That wasn't even close to a contest.

Do you want to know why I betrayed Corneria during the Lylat Wars? By now, you should fully be aware of it, but it was to disgrace you. Both of you, of course, but mostly pop, as always. And you know what? I'm glad my side lost. A failure to help tarnish the old O'Donnell name is a victory for me. I relish being able to use that and further put smears and smudges all over our so-called "family legacy," which should be burning in the ground by now.

Poor perfect O'Donnell folks; they had everything going until the last three of us couldn't keep the act together. It's probably because you two scoundrels couldn't figure out how to _love your own son_. What a concept! (Yes, I do have the audacity to accuse you of that, because here's a delightful tip, mother dear, _it's true_.)

Hell, you want to know how screwed up in the head I am because of that? I can't even figure out whom I can actually trust and depend on in the galaxy!

Take James McCloud for example. No, I don't regret perfecting my flight skills from him; I know pop hated him for how casually McCloud would insult him during the visits to Pepper's offices. In fact, training under him was a great idea. That pilot was more a hero and more a father than the monster I had to spend too many years with.

The only issue was that he had his own son, who could of course do no wrong. Sure, James liked me, but his son would always be top priority. Him and that pathetic pile of ragtag morons, Star Fox. The hare never liked me, thought me suspicious or criminal, and the pig wasn't interested in anything besides making his stomach and wallet fatter. That didn't matter though; I got to learn better piloting under Corneria's finest.

If that hare hadn't persuaded him from letting me on board full time, I'd be at his side and still enjoying what a real father could be. But of course, James suddenly made excuses. I was suddenly too young to go on more dangerous missions, too inexperienced. He would say that I have a full life ahead of me and didn't want me to waste it fighting, but using my freedom for something better.

Instead I used it to get him killed. The pig warped my mind and made me think that I was actually helping with a mission. He knew that I could get to James. Pigma knew that I could set him up to die, get him primed for his mission. And he played me perfectly.

James McCloud dying tore me to pieces. I loved and hated him at the same time. He was a great teacher, but he betrayed me, the pig told me. He convinced me that Fox would always be his favorite, always spent more timing preparing him for taking over the team.

And not too long after his dear daddy's death, of course Fox would jump up to take the mantle. Of course the hare was suddenly ok with letting a younger pilot join up with the team, to the point where they made up Star Fox. By then, though, I already decided to make my own team. A few times I challenged James with a new chameleon pilot that I took in, when we were just starting out. It was to test how well we progressed, to prove to McCloud that we were worthy to work with him.

Really though, I wanted to get professionals to take Fox down. Why should he have grown up with a better father than me? Why should he get to know love and happiness? What made him more deserving than me to have that team, to have that father? Years back, I decided nothing gave him that right over me.

Naturally, once Andross decided to try to take over all of Lylat, that got me interested. High pay for anyone that could take down Fox and friends. Running low on the money I stole from you two was part of joining up, but killing Fox and the team that took more of James's heart than I had?

_"You'll be seeing your dad soon, Fox."_

Sold. The price to pay was letting Pigma and Andross's fool of a nephew join us. I wouldn't have now, but then, I was desperate enough to say yes. Thinking about it after the Lylat Wars, it was clear that Pigma Dengar had screwed with my head and that Andrew Oikonny was going to make it worse.

Once I knew things were going south, they were kicked off my team and on their own. Surprisingly, my first recruit, Leon, stayed. He and I formed a bond over time, and I'm certain that I give him what no one else could. It's about the closest thing to friendship either of us will understand again.

After that, we took some time to get a real criminal empire rolling. Yes, mother, one to continue blotting our name into infamy. The monkey scum that were left without work, thanks to siding with Venom during the war, turned to me as their new leader. Yeah, a lot stayed with Oikonny, but some were done with getting killed and screwed by the Cornerian Army.

So I built Star Wolf's legacy over time, picked out a nice place in the Sargasso Space Zone, and kept a lower profile. I never stopped stealing though, always from rich scumbags like you and pop. Still, I knew that Fox and friends, now the heroes of Lylat, wouldn't leave us in peace forever, with their usual perfect justice mentality. Leon and I would need another pilot.

It took some research and test trials, with a lot of fools that wanted to join the great criminal squad of Star Wolf. A lot of them sucked, either at thieving, piloting, both, or everything else. Finally, I met a flashy thief that loved to leave a red rose behind. It was signature or something. It was a little tricky to track him down, but once we got down to negotiations, Panther Caroso was skilled and competent enough to take in.

What I like about him is that he's not as much of a screw up as Leon or I. Panther's annoying, loud, chatty, overly playful, too much of a flirt, but he's happy and knows how to have fun. That's more than Leon offers in personality, and easily more than I can. Leon's loyal like no tomorrow, but cold and ruthless. And me? Well, you know. Either way, the three of us work great together; I don't tell them enough that I like them, but they should know.

Another war started and a bunch of insect freak features called the Aparoids showed up. They tried to take over Lylat themselves, and I wouldn't have bothered them one way or another. Then Fox came in, wrecked my hideout, schooled my team, and asked about Pigma. That creep was long gone by now and I told Fox that I'd shoot him on spot. In fact, we were tracking him for me to kill myself. And naturally, Panther had to play the flirt with Fox's new girlfriend and spill his last known location, letting Fox take vengeance over me. Imbecile.

After that, though, the invasion got serious and the aparoids were winning. Unlike with Andross, we wouldn't be spared from a "new galactic order," or whatever they'd call it. So, Leon, Panther, and I decided that we'd help out or die trying. Corneria may be a pile of rubbish, but it's my pile and I'll decide what to do with it, even if most of you morons there hate me.

Know what else? Pops can keel over whenever, but I actually thought about you. To tell the truth, I don't think I love you, but I don't think I hate you either. And maybe, some day, whenever pop's gone, maybe we can…talk about things.

And there's a chance that I don't completely hate Fox anymore, since he is James's kid, but not that he'll know. I owed him one, so I gave him some advice that day: _"Don't hesitate; when the time comes, just act."_ I meant it for beating down Pepper, but who knows? He might need it another day. My team gave him that chance after helping his team go forward against the Aparoid army.

As a result, a lot of Lylat thought we might have died from that. Corneria knows better than that. You do, which is why you're still nagging me. We'll let the galaxy know when we're ready. And maybe I'll pick that day to send this to you. Or, maybe before then. Maybe not all all. I don't know.

Point is…well…I'm alive, if you still care. Sometimes you seem like you do, so I figured I might try to tell you. I don't speak with the refined tone you and pop forced on me anymore. I'm rougher around the edges and I like it. People don't mess pity me or think lowly of me. And I'm still destroying the family name, since it's pop's side and it's just too much fun. But you? You're not all bad, I guess. Don't keep proving me wrong and I'll get around to telling you.

It's like I keep telling Fox: _"You're good, but I'm better."_ And I am going to prove that. I'm the better pupil to James, the better pilot. I could be the better hero, if I wanted to be. Some day, I'm going to be a better father than my old fart was. Today though, I know I love the people closer to me better than you two did. So shape up.

Still your kid, even if we hate it,  
Wolf O'Donnell

P.S.: Yeah, I'm still wearing eye patches, plain or upgraded with scouter functionality. They're good at dimming the rest of the lighting so I can focus on my flying and dogfights. And that's just another thing that pop hates, so I'll keep them on forever. Deal with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw, Wolf is kind of, sort of sweet, maybe. He can't be all bad, if Assault is part of the series canon. (And until Nintendo proceeds with Zero as the series reboot, it is, so ha!)
> 
> Ok, Wolf is definitely more popular than Leon or Panther, and most certainly has more written and known about him. Hence why I took longer working with him and stuck with the actual story of Star Fox than with Leon's chapter. (Panther's lucky, he can be finessed about however the writer likes it.)
> 
> A few things bugged me about his profiles though: Wolf is meant to have an association with James prior to his death, which is complicated since he's still close in age to Fox, so that needed to make sense somehow. He worked with Pigma, but then kicked him and Oikonny off the team, because they were selfish. (Like Wolf isn't? Up for debate.) According to Assault descriptions, Wolf is wanted for treason (duh) and theft, but nothing is specified there.
> 
> So, I decided to mash them together and came up with Wolf being the rejected rich kid. He did have a classy way of talking during Lylat Wars (64), he does manage to keep up his fundings (theft) for supplying his team, but it had to come from something else during the N64 era. If he was still young and learning from James, he couldn't have been a downright criminal (yet). So, I went with wealth and a hatred to his parents, hence his disregard to law enforcement. Hopefully that fits.
> 
> With that, I decided to keep things along the canon line, since a lot of what Wolf does also tends to force him into encounters against Corneria and Fox. Their rivalry had to pick up from somewhere, so I decided to make Wolf jealous. He usually picks the fights, right? It seemed like a good idea. But I didn't want him to hate Fox for eternity; they eventually work together. Redirecting that at Pigma, who may or may not have influenced Wolf against James according to what's on his biographies, seemed like a good route to follow.
> 
> Some ideas passed about Fox or Cornerian Army soldiers having caused the eyepatch issue, but I read that there was no confirmation over that. Also, I liked the idea that Wolf uses the eyepatch to see better while flying, which earlier pilots would do something similar. So, I ditched that from being a focus and kept it personal between the O'Donnells and McClouds. Family drama, hooray!
> 
> Again, I tried connecting Wolf to both Leon and Panther to make it more cohesive, and because I think that they like each other beyond just tolerating one another. (Seriously, Leon has to like Wolf if they've been together for so long. Otherwise, he just likes killing stuff, which makes sense, but takes away depth.)
> 
> Star Fox Zero pivots the series to a potential reboot, so I don't know if Panther's coming back, but I figured Wolf would like him more than his past two pilots. Maybe Nintendo will prove that mentality wrong in the future; perhaps they'll keep Panther, and we'll actually get a sequel to Assault or Command. Extremely unlikely, given how deep in the earth this franchise gets buried, but who knows?
> 
> ...Well, some people agree that Command can be non-canon, given the "choose your story" plot but that could change. I'd rather have a fine line set after Assault and directly pick up from there, but others want a direct sequel to 64/Lylat Wars that wipes away everything, erasing Adventures and going forward. Zero does set up the chance to do that, excluding the tiny references to the past games within it. Since Nintendo prioritizes game play above all else, story tends to take the back burner. Bummer, but that leaves more for us!
> 
> Anyway, I hope this last one-shot was enjoyable. It was fun exploring the Star Wolf team, and they definitely deserve to be explored more. (Is that agreed upon universally? I think so, right?) I did keep trying to keep the Star Fox team in the loop though, because I like the rivalry staying in place. (They're better as rivals than enemies, imo. The banter is more fun.)
> 
> But enough blabbering, thank you very much for reading this far! Comments and criticisms are welcome, and I'd love to hear from you. And...well, that's all for this one. Thanks again!


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